


The old myths

by The_Swedish_Hen



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Norse Religion & Lore
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Gen, More characters to come, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-05-20 14:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14896068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Swedish_Hen/pseuds/The_Swedish_Hen
Summary: Once upon a time a lot of shit went down in different mythologies. Here, I will retell some stories, since they're simply too good to be forgotten.





	1. The story of Sleipnir

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so... This is my very first fic. I do not have a beta-reader. English is not my first language. In other words: I am so sorry for all stupid errors that may occur.
> 
> Anyway, each chapter will be a new story. I will begin to talk about some stories from norse mythology, but I will almost certinately jump between different mythologies. I most definately take requests. I can't promise you how often I will update this fic, but I won't abandon it without telling you. But then, the more requests I get the more likely I am to continue to write :D
> 
> And naturally, kudos and reviews are much appreciated!

WARNINGS:  
A completely un-graphic rape, and a sort-of graphic birth. Nothing extreme at all, but now you know.

So, I heard you liked stories? Well, I got some for you. Once upon a time, the lands where roamed by gods. Gods of all sorts, that together where almighty. Almost. You see, we humans could do very little about these gods. We are defenseless against them. But they are not the only god and would therefore often cause troubles for eachother. Some, more than others. In the Nordic countries, one of these troublesome gods lived. His name was Loki, and his only goal was to… well, wreak havoc. Because he could. But, he was also of great help to the other gods.

Today I’ll tell you about the story of Sleipnir, Odin’s mighty eight-legged steed. You see, Sleipnir has a really interesting background, and one remarkable thing is that his mother is Loki. “But…” You say, “Loki is a male god, he can’t be his mother?!” Long story short, there are pros and cons with being a shapeshifter. Wait, you’re here for the long story, aren’t you? Well then, make yourself comfortable.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vanir and Aesir once had a great war. It ended in a peace treaty, but the Aesir gods had a problem. Their wall had been destroyed, and Asgard were now defenceless against outer threats. Normally this wasn’t a problem, but right now Thor was away, clubbing trolls in the east. Which meant that Asgard was undefended. But one day a strange man came to Asgard. He told them that he could build the wall, and he needed no more time than 18 months.  
“You say you’ll build a wall we’re in great need of”, Odin, the king of the gods told him, “But what is your price?”  
“I don’t wish for much, I only want the sun, the moon, and Freya’s hand in marriage. The gods looked at him and politely told him to fuck of until they had been able to discuss his proposition.  
“Why are we even discussing this?” Freya demanded to know. “It is ridiculous!”  
“I agree with Freya,” Heimdall, the watcher of the gods said. “We cannot afford to lose the sun and the moon. And Freya, of course.” He added after a stern look from the goddess.  
“Then it’s decided,” Odin declared. “We will ask him to leave and to never come back.”  
“You are aware that you haven’t thought this through, right?” Loki suddenly said.  
The whole counsel with all the gods of all sorts of things turned their heads to look at him.  
“What do you mean?” Someone asked.  
“I’m only saying, that we really and the wall AND, he can’t possibly expect us to agree to his terms.”  
“Loki, please stop speaking in riddles.” Odin asked.  
“I think if we gave him a mere six months, we would win and he would lose. You see, he will begin to build the wall, but he will not be able to finish it. Therefore, we will have almost a complete wall and still don’t pay a single coin for it.”  
The gods started talking to each other, but even though no one really liked Loki, they had to admit it was a good idea. After awhile they called back the builder.  
“We agree to your terms, but only if you promise to build it in six months, and without any help from the outside.”  
“That is impossible!” He shouted, trying to convince the gods to change their minds. It failed. “Could I at least have assistance from my horse, Svadilfari?”  
“Of course, “Loki said before any of the other gods had a chance of saying something. “I mean, what harm could one horse make? After all, we ought to play fair.”  
The gods chuckled at that and agreed with Loki. The builder nodded, smiled and went away. The next day he would return, with his horse, to begin to build the wall. 

The next day, everyone was gathered to see the great builder work. There was but one problem. The builder actually knew what he was doing. The gods looked in horror as he manhandled giant stone blocks, larger and stronger than any giant, and placed them upon each other. Loki reassured them that the builder would tire, and his stallion even more so, and they wouldn’t have to pay anything. The gods were reassured by his words, all but one. Freya. You see, she knew that Loki seldom thought through his plan completely. He thought that a leaking pipe would be waterproof if you only used some duct tape. He never thought about what could happen if the duct tape was removed. 

The months went on, and neither the builder nor his horse would tire. And on the second last day of winter, Odin called to a gathering.  
“What have we done…” He said, sadly. “We have condemned midgard to eternal darkness.”  
“IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT?” Freya shouted across the hall. “YOU FUCKING FOOLS! YOU INCOMPETENT LUNATICS!”  
“Now now,” Odin said, “Let’s not-”  
“LET US BE FOOLED AGAIN!? THAT SOUND LIKE A GOOD PLAN TO ME!”  
Odin took a deep breath. They really needed a good plan. If only there was someone to blame. Who had done this?  
“You.” Odin said, looked directly at Loki.  
“What, me?” Loki said, as innocently as he possibly could.  
“You did this.”  
“We kind of voted, remember…?” Loki tried.  
“It was your idea.” Heimdall said. “Now fix it.”  
“How am I supposed to…” Loki began, but he soon realized it was not worth even trying.  
He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and left the hall. But seriously, what was he supposed to stop the wall from being built? That builder was wicked strong, and even though he had done many reckless things before, he would never go against him. No way. But what else…? His eyes caught the horse. A great stallion in spring, wonder what he could want? Loki thought sarcastic. He closed his eyes and felt his body change. Where the god once has stod, where now a beautiful mare. She was chestnut brown and had a long mane. Showtime. She trotted closer to the stallion and whinnied softly. That certainly got his attention. She neighed again and thrust with her head. Come and get me. And suddenly, and without warning, the stallion forgot all about work and sprinted towards the beautiful mare. Well shit. Loki hadn’t really thought about how fast the stallion would ran, and holy Hel did it ran. But Loki was faster. Behind them he heard the owner's angry shouts and whistling, and if Loki could he would have laughed. Now he just had to wait for the horse to get bored with the chase, and then he could return to Asgard and party all night long. Any minute now. Any minute.

Hours later and Svadilfari still hadn’t given up the pursuit. Loki on the other hand, was so done. He had never been more exhausted in his whole life and felt like he was going to throw up. His whole body was screaming at him, begging him to stop. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t change form either, not without risking hurting himself beyond repair. He simply had no choice but to run, run, run… But Svadilfari got closer for every second, and a small stumble was all it took. Suddenly the stallion was all over him. Loki froze, completely terrified, as he felt the great horse get inside him. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The stallion got down, looked at the mare once, and left. Shit, was all Loki thought, before simply fainting and collapsing.

Back in Asgard the gods had all laughed heartily at the builder as his horse had ran after the chick. The builder had gotten so enraged that he showed his true identity, a giant, and tried to kill the gods for tricking him. But since Thor had returned (long, boring, story) the giant was the one that ended up dead. That night the gods celebrated. They had gotten an almost complete wall, completely free, and that was a pretty damn good reason for celebrating. But somewhere around midnight, the gods realized that Loki wasn’t with them. Strange, especially since Loki was the one who seemed to have “get wasted” as his hobby. But since it was Loki, absolutely no-one cared. The truth be told, it was kind of a relieve to get a break from his shenanigans. One might think it's strange that neither his wife nor the sons he had with her came looking for him, but that's the harsh truth.

The next day, Loki woke up. Unfortunately, he remembered exactly what had happened the last day. He groaned sadly. Why did it always have to be him? He swore, every single time… Why didn’t he transform back to his real shape? He tried again. And again. He was still a mare. Slowly it dawned on him. The horse left out a sound that sounded a lot like a “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck”, and that was exactly what it was supposed to be. Loki gingerly stood up and shook his head. He had all reasons to panic, but he couldn’t panic, because panic was never good. It didn’t help at all. He had never been as stressed out in his whole life as he was now. Think, he told himself, there got to be a way to get out of this. There wasn’t. He was going to be a horse for the next nine months, and there was absolutely nothing to do about it. And then, he’d… Well, now he was definitely freaked out. This was by far the worst mess he’d ever gotten himself into. He thought about what he would do when he… “that-thing-before-he-could-finally-turn-back”. He couldn’t go back to the palace, since there was a risk that someone would recognize him even in this shape. The last thing he needed right now was for people to mock him. Travelling to another world was out of question, for way too many reasons. Welp, he was going to be alone. But he rose his head up high. This wasn’t some sloppy drama, no, he was a god! He was Loki! Why shouldn’t he be able to do this? It might the worst thing that had ever happened to him, but he would do it and triumph. Who cared if he would be all alone? Certainly not he! He would never regret not asking for help!

He had never regretted anything more. He was all alone, in a small glade he had found in the forest. The first months had been alright, the last two an absolute murder, and right now he wished he had never even been born in the first place. The little dignity he had had left had flown out through the window, never to come back, and the pain was literally unbearable. He sighed heavily and laid down his head. Why had he been such an idiot?! It’s not like anyone would blame him for seeking out help anyway, all women did it. This whole thing were such a mess- A sharp sting of pain made his whole body shake, and he screamed. Technically he neighed, but still. Was it supposed to hurt this much? He closed his eyes and pushed. It hurt as Hel, but he could also feel that it felt right somehow. He tried it again and did so a few times. Then a sickening splash was heard, and the pain almost disappeared. Exhausted but relieved, he turned his head to look at the (your, he reminded himself) foal. It was yellow-brown ish with charcoal black mane. A cute little boy, Loki realized. Nothing strange about him, expect for the fact that it had eight legs. But he seemed to be an otherwise healthy little fellow, so he didn’t mind. Loki decided that its name would be Sleipnir. He stood up, and Sleipnir was quick to follow. Before, Loki had thought about leaving the foal behind, but there was no way he could do it now without feeling as a terrible person. Instead he used his muzzle to push up the little foal. Amazing how fast horses learned to walk. They walked together slowly for a while, until Sleipnir turned to the left and went under him. What are you doing?!?! Loki fought for a brief moment, before remembering the he was the mother. This was… weird, to say the least. Loki waited until the foal was no longer hungry, and then they continued. When they were about an hour from the palace, Loki turned back to his aesir shape. He took a deep breath, relieved that he was longer neither a horse, nor female. Sleipnir looked at him for a while but decided that his mother’s sudden transformation was way less interesting than the butterfly a few feet in front of him. Loki laughed, and they walked together. Don’t believe that he was naked, because one of the advantages of shapeshifting was that he always returned to his form as he was before. He had clean clothes before, and therefore he wore clean clothes now. 

To his surprise, the throne room was completely empty except for Odin when he arrived. The king looked up surprised when his long-lost council member and blood brother finally returned.  
“Greetings, my king, I have finally returned! And I bring gifts from faraway lands!” Loki said in a mocking voice and shoved Sleipnir in front of him.  
“Where in the nine realms have you been all this time?!” Odin asked, more concern than rage in his voice.”  
“Umm…” What was he supposed to answer? That he got raped and gave birth, and hadn’t even been aesir for almost a year? “Here and there?”  
Odin grunted, obviously knowing exactly what had happened. However, he seemed very interested in the foal.  
“How old is he?” Odin asked Loki.  
“Why should I know?” Odin glared at him. “Fine, around five hours.” 

Odin kept the foal, and also Loki’s secret. Naturally, secrets tend to come out. The gods soon realized that Loki had returned at the exact same day as Odin had gotten his new horse. They also know a mare had lured away the builder’s stallion, and they were also aware of Loki’s shapeshifting abilities. It wasn’t hard to figure out how it all came together. But only a brave soul would dare mention this in Loki’s presence. And even if no one tried to show Loki a helping hand or some support, they all agreed that he had done a good job at “finding” Odin’s new horse. And Sleipnir grew up to be the strongest and fastest of all horses and could even run on the trunk of Yggdrasil and therefore travel between the world. And, even though he hated to talk about it, Loki couldn’t be prouder of the horse. His son.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And that was the story about Sleipnir. I hope you’re happy.


	2. When Thor's hammer was stolen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, yay!
> 
> As always, kudos and reviews are much appreciated. And remember; I take requests!
> 
>  
> 
> WARNINGS: Crossdressing? I don't know, this really isn't a very dark story.

Ready for more are we? Good for you, because I have just the story to tell you. The story about the world's first cross-dresser. Maybe, the truth be told I have no idea if it's true. I know what you're thinking, "What did Loki do this time?" Believe it or not, but Loki isn't the main character this time. Thor is. I don't know what's more shocking, that the Norse gods came up with the idea to dress Thor up as a woman, or that it actually worked. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Thor woke up after a long night's sleep. His wife Siv rested beside him as usual, and everything was just perfect. He reached with his hand towards the nightstand. And shot bolt right up in bed. Mjolnir wasn't there. He's beloved, awesome, more-important-than-almost-everything hammer was gone. Siv stirred at his side.  
"Honey what's wrong?" She asked sleepy.  
"That bastard, I'm going to make him pay."  
"Wait, what? Who? Thor!"  
But he had already left the house. Briskly he walked to Loki's home and banged the door. He banged it again, almost punching Loki right in the face as he did.  
"What?!" Loki stage-whispered, and he had most definitely not flinched.  
"Where is my hammer?" Thor questioned, barging into his house.  
Loki sighed and closed the door behind them.  
"Why should I know? You can't blame me for everything!" Continuous stage-whispering.  
Thor shot an angry glare at the other god and proceeded to search through the house. Loki sat down at a chair, fiddling with the hem of his night robe. After a while Thor was done and walked out again. Loki simply sighed and followed, knowing it would probably end badly for him if he didn't.  
"Happy?" Loki asked once they were out.  
"I don't understand, who else would take me hammer? And what's up with all the whispering?"  
"First of all, way too many would want your hammer for me to be able to list them all, and secondly, just because you wake me up it doesn't mean that you have to wake up my whole family! What?" Loki added as Thor scoffed.  
"Nothing, I just, I've never seen you as much of a family guy."  
"Well I am, so would you please leave?"  
Thor was just about to leave, much to Loki’s relief, when he turned around again.  
“Could you just, I don’t know, look for it?”  
Loki looked at him strangely.  
“Why? And more importantly, where? It could be anywhere!”  
“It’s probably in Utgaard. Just do your thing.” And he was gone.  
Do your thing, yeah right… Loki thought for himself. Easier said than done. On the other hand, Thor could be right. Not that he would admit it, not in a thousand years. Well, might as well save everyone the trouble of making an official decision. He knew he would be the one to go look for it anyway. Loki closed his eyes and shifted into a falcon. After an hour or so he was in Utgaard, the home of the giants. If someone had stolen Thor’s hammer, it must’ve been someone mighty. Perhaps… Thrym? Thrym was the king, so it was a good start. He flew in over the castle and landed on the king’s balcony. He shrieked and turned back into his Aesir shape. When Thrym arrived, startled by the sound, he found Loki standing on his balcony.  
“Ah, Loki, I should’ve known. Come to reunite with his people, are we?”  
Loki shaked his head and chuckled softly.  
“I may have been born a jotun, but I belong with the Aesir gods.”  
“Suit yourself then. Don’t come crawling back to me when they no longer want you.”  
“No risk. But I’m here in other business completely.”  
“The hammer, I assume?”  
Loki swallowed. That had been easy.  
“Well, yes.”  
“You can get it back you know.”  
“Really?”  
“Yes! If I can have Freya as my wife.”  
Loki cursed internally. Freya, Freya, it was always Freya! She might be a goddess of sex and love, but she was also a goddess of war and death. Sometimes it felt like everyone completely forgot about those last bits.  
“It’s not my decision to make alone, I’ll have to talk to the council.” Loki told Thrym.  
The giant laughed heartily.  
“Sure thing. Come back when you’ve decided. I would prefer if you brought Freya along though…”  
Loki turned into a hawk once more and flew back to Asgard. A few of his feathers fell of and he saw how Thrym picked them up and put them inside of his shirt, as to keep them. Pervert. 

Finally back in Asgard, he was not surprised to find that the council had already assembled.  
“Was your quest successful, Loki?” Odin asked him.  
“Yes and no. You see, I know who has the hammer, but he won’t exactly give it back for free.”  
“Stop speaking in riddles and give us an answer!” Thor spoke, almost roaring the last part.  
“Alright, alright! Thrym has it, and if we want it back we must bring him Freya. To be his bride.”  
Silence. Then angry shouts, and death-threats from a particular goddess. Then silence once more.  
“What are we going to do?” Odin asked his council.  
Loki was just about to speak, when Heimdall interrupted.  
“Let Thor be the bride.”  
Everyone’s eyes turned to Heimdall. What had he just said? He couldn’t actually be proposing that Thor, of all people should be the bride?  
“And Loki could go as his bride’s maid.”  
Loki scoffed. Just once he’d like to not have to go on a grand adventure. Just stay at home with his family and not be blamed for everything that went to shit. Oh well.  
“That’s even more stupid than Loki’s plans!” Thor said.  
“Hey!” Loki shouted, slightly offended. “At least my plans work!”  
“Then, oh great plan maker, what’s your grand plan this time?” Heimdall asked.  
“Well, uh, we could…” He had absolutely no idea.  
“Then it’s decided.” Odin declared. “Thor will pretend to be Freya and Loki will follow him as his bridesmaid.”  
With that, Odin left. Someone had to tell Thrym that Freya would come this afternoon. Soon most of the council followed and left Thor, Loki and Siv (Thor’s wife, remember?) alone. She looked at the two men in front of her.  
“Well then, I guess we need to saw some dresses for you.”  
It was easier with Loki. Hell, he simply changed gender and borrowed Siv’s old wedding dress. It hadn’t been very pompous, so it could easily go as a bridesmaid’s dress instead of the bride’s. Thor on the other hand… The first problem was his giant red beard. And, being the giant stubborn god that he was, he flat out refused to cut it off. Instead they had to cover it with a thick veil. And on they went, trying their best to make him look like a her. It… didn’t look very natural, but hey, it’s not like someone is going to ogle the bride of a king. Next step was to get to Utgaard. To everyone’s surprise Freya agreed to let them borrow her cart that was pulled by her cats, and it was a good thing that she let them. They needed to be as convincing as they could with what little they had. 

When they arrived, they realized that they seemed to be late. Everyone already inside, and tons of horses stood in temporary stables. Together, Loki and Thor gracefully walked into the castle. Thankfully no one seemed to mind that they were late, and they walked together towards the throne where Thrym waited. But Loki couldn’t fail to see the looks the giants around the tables gave them. Hungry looks. Loki caught himself walking closer to Thor than needed. It wasn’t as if he was afraid, of course not… It’s just that you couldn’t be careful enough.  
“My King!” Loki said to get the giants attention. He really hoped he wouldn’t recognize him, since that might lead to him wanting to investigate who “Freya” was as well, and thus they might never get back Mjolnir.  
“Finally, my bride has arrived! Everyone, behold the beautiful Freya!”  
The people applauded, and a few even dared to wolf-whistle. The king didn’t seem to mind though, but Loki had never been as amused in his entire life. Thor, the actual god of thunder, was flustered. It was obvious that he had absolutely no idea on what to do. Loki continued to speak, as it was of outmost importance that Thor didn’t say a word. After all, his dark voice was a bit harder to do something about.  
“My king, we have travelled a long way and your bride-to-be has unfortunately lost her voice. She was so delighted when she understood that you were to be her husband, that she couldn’t stop screaming of happiness for hours. But I believe that some food and mead would do her good.” Loki added, thinking about his own empty stomach.  
“Of course. Freya, you and your bridesmaid have your seats here, right by my side.”  
Loki curtsied and led them to their assigned seats. 

Apparently, Loki wasn’t the only one that had become hungry from their trip. Thor ate a whole ox all by himself and drank multiple kegs of mead. Thrym noticed this and asked the bridesmaid about his bride’s strange behavior.  
“I’m afraid neither of us has eating anything at all during the day, we have been so busy preparing for your wedding.”  
Thrym was happy with this explanation, but only for a while.  
“I’m sorry, but I can’t contain myself anymore. Freya, I must kiss you!”  
He bended forward to kiss the bride by his side, but instead he flinched back.  
“I have never seen such red and angry eyes on a woman. Tell me, bridesmaid, what’s wrong with her?”  
“My great king, of course this has its natural explanation.” Think, god damnit! “Sleep.”  
“Sleep?”  
“Yes! You see, even if you weren’t supposed to get married before today, she has dreamed for weeks about being your wife. You see, she has longed so much that she’s barely been able to sleep!”  
“I see. Well then, let’s not torture her longer than necessarily. Bring forth the gifts!”  
Three giants appeared in the room, carrying a pillow. And on the pillow, rested Mjolnir. As soon as he saw it, Thor ran up and grabbed the hammer. In a matter of seconds, everyone except him and Loki was dead.  
“That was fast.” Loki said and left his seat.  
Careful not to get any blood on his dress, he and Thor left the castle and travelled back to Asgard. And they celebrated all night long. And when everyone was properly drunk, even Thor started to enjoy the teasing aimed at the both of them. You see, sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to achieve something great. And more often than not, it is worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye for now! I'll hopefully see you again soon.


	3. Orpheus and Eurydice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter, and a new mythology! Whoohoo!
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> Cursing, death, and a creepy guy (you know what I mean).

So, as I’ve said earlier there are a lot of different mythologies out there. And I’m thinking, let’s move down to the south for a bit. More precisely, ancient Greece. This is a story about a hero, of true love, and of trying. Let’s go!  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His name of Orpheus. A long time ago, his father, the god Apollo came down to earth to give him a very special gift.  
“Son,” he told Orpheus. “I think it’s time for you to learn to play the lute.”  
Orpheus were happy to oblige and sat down to learn how to play the instrument. He played and played, and the melodies he created left everyone astounded. Even the trees and stones listened to him. Apollo couldn’t have been prouder of his son. 

Time passed, and one day Orpheus met the woman of his life. The beautiful Eurydice. It soon got clear that they were meant to be and got married. On their wedding they called Hymen (the god of marriages) to bless them.  
“I wish you many happy years together.” He told the couple, but there was no sincerity behind his words.”  
“Is there something wrong?” Orpheus asked.  
“No, no! Yes.” He admitted. “I’m afraid something will go terribly wrong. This marriage may be a happy one, but it will not last.”

That evening Orpheus and Eurydice got together in their small house to talk about the gods strange prophecy.  
“What are we going to do?” She asked him.  
“We will do nothing, my love. I love you, and nothing will ever stop me from loving you.”  
Eurydice smiled, but the sense of foreboding wouldn’t leave her. Hymen was a god after all. Even though they could be wrong, gods tend to know what they were talking about. 

A few weeks later Eurydice was out in the woods, only accompanied by some nymphs. It was a lovely day; the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Suddenly she saw someone in the forest.  
“Hello?” She asked happily.  
“What’s your name?” He asked her.  
“It’s-it’s Eurydice.” She said, a little cautiously sine the nymphs had suddenly disappeared.  
“Eurydice. That’s a lovely name.”  
He stepped closer to her. He had slightly torn clothes and a long cane. A shepperd, probably. On his face rested a strange smile.  
“I guess it is.” She answered him.  
“Mine is Aristaeus. It’s not as fancy as yours I’m afraid. But,” He stepped even closer to her, causing Eurydice to take a step back. “But I’m sure it’ll sound better when it comes as a moan from the lips of a beautiful lady.”  
At that, she started to run. It was a good she reacted as fast as she did, because the man behind here became absolutely enraged.  
“Come back here! Don’t you dare try to run away you cheap whore!”  
She ran through the forest, as fast as she could. Darting between the trees, she prayed to the gods that the man would not fetch her. But when she no longer could hear his angry shouts behind her, she realized that he had given up the chase. She laughed quietly, at least she was fast. That was when she felt a sharp sting of pain at her left ankle. Her laughter turned into a shout of pain. Her vision became a blur, and she fell.

“Eurydice?!” Orpheus had searched through the forest for many hours now. He still hadn’t found his beautiful wife. “Eurydi- “  
He had almost stumbled over her. He looked down at his feet. Her face was white and her lips had turned into a blueish colour. He kneeled at her side and felt for her pulse.  
“No, no, no, no…” He shook her gently. No reaction.  
“I’m so sorry…”  
He stroke her hair as he reached for his lute. He began playing a melody. As the sad, yet still powerful tunes left the lute, all of the world could feel his sorrow and his grief. The birds stopped chirping, and even the gods stopped and listened. When he was done, he felt a had on his shoulder. He turned around, startled but too consumed of grief to be afraid.   
“I’m sorry my son,” Apollo said. “She may have been a good runner, but the snake got her first.”  
“I can’t lose her.”  
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that. She’s already gone.”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“No.”  
Orpheus gathered his strength and stood up.  
“You’re a god, there must be something you can do.”  
“Orpheus, there’s nothing I can do-”  
“Then tell me what I can do. There must be something…”  
Apollo shook his head sadly.   
“Nothing that’s worth the risk.”  
“It is worth it. I don’t care what you think if sensible, I will do it.”  
“If you’re so sure… Travel down to the Underworld. Talk with Persephone, she might be able to convince Hades to let your wife go. I will try to protect you, but there is only so much I can do.”  
“Thank you.”  
There stood and looked at each other awkwardly for a while. Orpheus felt like he should hug his father but was unsure if they had that sort of relationship. Instead he continued to walk. Towards the Underworld.

Finally, he arrived at the river Styx, the river that went all the way down to the Underworld. As if he could sense that someone was coming, the ferryman arrived only moments later. His boat was small and made of wood. At the stern hanged a small lamp.  
“Who are you?” The cloaked shape asked him.  
“My name is Orpheus. I wish to travel down to the Underworld.”  
The ferryman laughed, a cold, hard laugh.  
“You’re not dead.”  
“I have the money.”  
Orpheus walked over to the boat and placed the gold coin in the ferryman’s hand. He shrugged and kept the coin.  
“I will only take you to the gates.”  
Happily, Orpheus sat down in the boat and they began to travel down the long way to the Underworld. Long wails could be heard in the complete darkness down there. Sometimes he could se pale shapes scurrying away when they saw them. But Orpheus knew better than to leave the ferry. Knew better than to listen to the voice the begged for mercy, that asked for his help. At last, the great gates appeared. Not far after them, he knew he would find the king and queen. But then, the ferry man stopped.  
“Why are you stopping?” Orpheus asked.  
“We have arrived.”  
“No? The gates are right there, you have to take me all the way!”  
“I said I would take you to the gates, not through.”  
Realization hit him, and Orpheus stared at the ferryman. He had to go the rest of the way himself, and he wasn’t very keen of facing the horrors himself. But he had to. For Eurydice. He muttered a thank you and left the boat. It was hard to see through the darkness, but small torches lit up the walls. He opened the heavy gate and was greeted by a deep growl. Oh no. He had apparently woken up Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld.  
“Hello.” Orpheus said to the giant dog. “Aren’t you a good boy?”  
Cerberus looked strangely on him but didn’t attack him. Not yet at least. Perhaps he was doing something good?  
“Yes you are! You’re a really good boy!”  
Its tail started to wag, and he was obviously excited to meeting this strange human. Orpheus walked beside him and petted its belly. With a heavy thud, Cerberus fell to the side and allowed the human to pet him.  
“Aren’t you a cutie?” Orpheus asked the dog.  
“Who are you?” A voice asked him.  
Orpheus spun around and was greeted by a confused Persephone.  
“My queen.” He said and fell to a knee. Cerberus whined softly, obviously disappointed that the belly rubbing had stopped.  
“Well?” She asked him again.  
“I was afraid he would attack me and wanted to distract him.” He didn’t see the point in lying.  
She laughed.  
“He is a real softy for a guard dog, but what are you doing here? You obviously aren’t dead.  
“I came to ask for my wife back.”  
“Oh, you sweet summer child.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You can’t get a soul back just like that. If she’s gone, she’s gone.”  
“At least let me try. Perhaps we can come to an agreement?”  
She was silent for a while, clearly weighing his words.  
“Come with me, the one you want to talk to is my husband.”

“Who have you brought here?” The king asked when they arrived in the throne room.  
“Hades, honey, this is Orpheus. He’s not dead, but…”  
“But what?”  
“He wants to get his wife back.”  
“And why would I-”  
But Hades was interrupted by the music from a lute. Orpheus knew that talk wouldn’t get him anywhere. So instead, he played a song. The most beautiful song anyone could imagine, and more. When he was done, everyone was completely. Persephone cried, and even Hades was struggling to keep his stone-face.   
“I guess…” Hades began. “I guess I will give you a chance.”  
Hades moved his hand, and after only a moment a thin voice was heard.  
“Orpheus?”  
“Eurydice!”   
He ran towards her and gave her a large hug and nuzzled her neck.  
“I’ve missed you so much.”  
Hades coughed as to get their attention again.  
“Orpheus, you will walk up to the earth again, and Eurydice will walk a bit behind you BUT, if you around to check if she’s still there, ever so slightly, you will never get her back.”  
Orpheus smiled, because he knew he would never get a better deal from the king of the Underworld. He began to walk up the path Hades had pointed out for him, and he could faintly her his wife’s steps behind him. But suddenly, there was only silence. Had he lost her? Had she gotten hurt? Had Hades tricked him? He knew that his mind was playing tricks on him, but what if he was right? What if there was something wrong? He turned around. Just as he had thought, she was behind him, but when he saw her she slipped and fell. Back to the land of the dead, never to return to the land of the living. Orpheus made it out alone. And Eurydice was lost forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I love reviews and kudos. And if you want to read a special story here, just send me a message! You can be 99% sure I will write it for you.
> 
> And one more thing: If you really liked this story and love musicals, I can recommend that you listen to Hadestown. It's a musical about Orpheus and Eurydice, with a more modern twist. Awesome music and an awesome story, what can go wrong?


	4. The binding of Fenris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, time really flies... 
> 
> Here you have a new chapter!
> 
> WARNINGS: This story is more sad than dark. A guy looses his arm. Nothing graphic.

Alright, alright, let’s go back once more... I think I know just the story to tell you. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

One day, Loki disappeared from Asgard. Naturally, no one thought anything about this, and no one raised an eyebrow when he returned with a small wolf cub. The truth was that Loki was the father of this small child, who he came to call Fenrir. Fenrir was just like any other wolf, except that it talked and thought just like any human (or, you know, Aesir). But one more thing separated this child from other wolves. It grew faster than bamboo and became huge. When Fenrir first came to Asgard, everyone played with him and fed him. But as he grew, no one dared to get close to him. No one except Tyr. Cause you see, Tyr was the god of bravery, amongst others, and could see no reason to fear Fenrir. After all, he acted more human than wolf, and why would he be dangerous just because he was large? 

 

Odin, on the other hand, was more that suspicious about Fenrir. He had seen vision where Fenrir swallowed him and wreaked havoc upon earth. He had seen how the wolf touched both heaven and the ground when he opened his jaws. How the wolf would be the start of Ragnarok, the end of everything. So, Odin became to form a plan. How could he stop the wolf from destroying the world? Chains, naturally. If the wolf couldn’t move, then he couldn’t kill anyone. He told the smiths about his plan and not long after that a pair of great chains were made. Odin took the chains and called for a counsel gathering. 

 

“What’s the problem?” Loki asked, because for once he was fairly sure he hadn’t done anything wrong. 

“Fenrir.” 

A low murmur rolled through the hall. If one was observant, you might’ve have noticed how Loki sighed, and whispered to himself just once, is that too much to ask for? If any of the gods had heard him, they might’ve thought that was a peculiar thing to say. But no one did, and why should they? They had better things to do than to eavesdrop on each other. 

“I’m afraid he will cause the end of all worlds.” Odin continued. 

Before anyone had time to react, laughter was heard from the end of the hall. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Tyr asked. “Would Fenris kill, is that what you’re saying?” 

“Yes.” 

Tyr shook his head. 

“Have you ever even spent time with him? He wouldn’t kill anyone!” 

“I saw it in a vison.” 

Tyr silenced. If Odin saw something in a vison it was almost guaranteed that it would happen. But still. If Fenris was to kill someone, something terrible had to happen to him to corrupt that gentle wolf he knew. 

“Fenris is dangerous, it’s as simple as that.” Thor said. 

The other gods agreed. Tyr was beginning to feel desperate, why wouldn’t they just see Fenris for who he was instead of some kind of angry monster they portrayed him as? 

“Thank you, Thor. I think we should chain him. But who would do that?” Odin said. 

“I won’t!” Loki told him. 

Fair enough, Odin thought. For once he might cut that annoying little trickster some slack. Odin turned his one good eye to Tyr. The rest of the gods soon followed his gaze. Tyr put one a fake smile and stood up.   
“I guess I’ll do it then.” 

Odin gave him the chains, and the council went to chain the wolf. 

 

“Hey Fenrir, could you come a moment?" Tyr called. 

The wolf woke, yawned and stretched. He was now twice as large as the strongest man, and it was obvious that he would become larger yet. 

“What do you want?” He asked curiously. 

“We’d like to see how strong you really are. Would you like to try to break these chains?” 

Fenris laughed, a deeply unsettling sound. He was a giant wolf after all. 

“That’s not a real challenge, but sure thing!” 

He laid down so Tyr could reach him. Tyr still had to climb the wolf to reach his back, but that wasn’t something new. 

“Done.” 

Fenris huffed and stood up. The chains broke immediately. The gods cheered, pretending the celebrate the wolfs strength. 

 

The next week Tyr came with an even bigger sets of chains. These were so enormous, that fifty gods had to carry them. These chains were maid of star metal, a very rare kind of metal. Rare, expensive, and heavy. Fenris pulled, and twisted, and pulled. Suddenly, the chains exploded. Deadly shards of the chains flew everywhere, and with such force that they would find the shards stuck in trees years later. 

 

Now Odin was nervous. Really nervous. What was stronger than star metal? Nothing. Nothing that he knew of, at least. Time to go to the dwarves. If the dwarves couldn’t craft something that would keep the wolf bound, then no one could. He travelled to a well-known dwarven smithy and explained what he needed. The dwarf nodded thoughtfully and smiled. 

“I have just the thing, but it will cost you.” 

“Whatever you need.” 

To this day, no one knows how much Odin had to pay for the chain. He gets mad as soon as someone even mentions them. But it is safe to assume, he paid a lot. 

 

But it was worth it. Because what the dwarf made was indeed a special chain. It didn’t look like a chain at all. If one had to compare it to something, you would probably call it a silk ribbon. It was thin and flowed between your fingers. And even stranger was the metal that was used in its creation. Metal hadn’t been used at all, instead the dwarf had used the sound of a cat’s footfall, the roots of a mountain, a woman’s beard, a fish’s breath, a bear’s sinews, and a bird’s spittle. Strange things that doesn’t even occur naturally. As all magical or great things, this chain deserved its own name. The dwarf told Odin it was called Gleipnir. Odin rode back to Asgard and presented Gleipnir to Tyr. 

“If this doesn’t work, nothing will.” 

Tyr didn’t believe his eyes when he saw the so-called chain but trusted Odin’s judgement. 

When Fenris saw the chain, he knew that something was wrong. 

“What’s that?” He asked Tyr.   
“Another chain!” 

“That’s not a chain,” Fenrir scoffed. “That’s a toy!! 

“Don’t you trust me?” Tyr asked. 

Fenrir looked at him, long and hard. 

“No.” 

Now this, was a problem. They couldn’t really force Fenrir to be bound and needed him to cooperate willingly. 

“What can we do to prove our good will?” Odin asked quickly. 

“If you really want to prove there is no foul play involved, then... One of your warriors will place his or her hand in my mouth and remain there till I escape or your let me go.” 

No. No no no, this couldn’t happen! They were so close to succeeding, what would they-   
“I’ll do it.” Said Tyr and stepped forward. 

“Tyr...” Odin said carefully. 

"What? It's totally harmless! After all, we would never trick Fenris now would we?” 

Tyr placed his left arm inside of Fenris mouth. He could feel his teeth, but the wolf didn’t bit him. He simply made sure that he remained where he were. The gods wrapped Gleipnir around the wolf, and he began to pull. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. As the wolf struggled the gods began to laugh. They had done it! Fenris was bound! When he understood that he had been tricked, he locked eyes with Tyr. Tyr nodded. With a snap, Fenris’s jaws closed around Tyr’s arms. Tyr stumbled backwards, holding his bleeding stump. 

“I’ll be at the infirmary.” He told Odin and left. 

 

The gods left Fenris at a small island in the middle of nowhere. But before they could leave, Fenris promised Odin that he would kill him. Not today, perhaps not tomorrow. But one day, he would come back and kill him. No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?
> 
> Kudos, comments, requests... you know the drill.


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